The social media platform that can make you as happy as marriage

Hands up, how many of you grew up under the age-old belief that marriage and children is the ultimate recipe for lifelong happiness?

But although finding a soulmate and settling down may have proven successful for our grandparents, a wedding ring just isn’t going to cut it for millennials.

According to a recent study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University, using Facebook can give us just as much life satisfaction as saying “I do”.

Though it’s not ‘likes’ that people are chasing on social media but comments tailored to them.

Lead scientist Moira Burke told Eurekalert, “We’re not talking about anything that’s particularly labour-intensive. This can be a comment that’s just a sentence or two.”

Do social media comments from friends make you happy? [Photo: Getty]

“The important thing is that someone such as a close friend takes the time to personalise it. The content may be uplifting, and the mere act of communication reminds recipients of the meaningful relationships in their lives.”

For the three-month experiment, the team of researchers analysed 1,910 Facebook users from 91 countries and asked each participant to fill in a survey at the end of every month.

After analysing their social media behaviour, the team discovered that Facebook interaction with friends led to an increase in life satisfaction with increased levels of happiness and lowered rates of loneliness and depression.

To conclude, the team learnt that just 60 comments from close pals a month can have as much of a positive effect on our psychological well-being as major life events – for instance tying the knot or having a baby.